A local McColls has a " Morrisons Daily coming soon" poster in its window.
Which begs the questions
1 - is this the end of the Safeway brand... again
2 - the shop in question is a large, modern, decent ceilinged, well lit branch. But McColls have some right run down dumps, would Morrisons want their branding on such branches?
Yet another Morrisons thread
Yes, unless another group wants to take a wholesale arrangement I guess.
They don't. 132 have already closed or will be going soon.
Here's Carlton Hill on that list: https://photos.app.goo.gl/E9CrK9SMY5ASu21bA - as you can see it fell very much in the 'dump' category (despite sitting on a nice enough little high street). Note the night pay window also - before Covid it was 24x7, then cut back to 0600-2100, then more recently since the administration 0700-1730.
Suspect these are the 'no hopers', with perhaps 200 more to be disposed of and/or closed. Interesting the list includes a few former Co-ops which only became McColls in the last few years.
I'm not quite sure what Morrisons really got out of reviving the Safeway brand. When first announced I assumed it was to essentially be a dark kitchen - they would use Safeway to obfuscate the source of the products they supplied at wholesale. Yet even the earliest POS specifically mentioned that Morrisons were behind it. If it wasn't felt to be a strong enough brand to stand by itself then what was the point?
Re. not wanting their brand on dumps - they've already done it. McColls in Minehead has been trading as Morrisons Daily for a good few years now. Quite a smart looking piece of branding on the outside but once you manage to push open the heavy stained wooden door of dubious DDA compliance you're met with a tired old shopfit that looks like it probably pre-dates McColls and a shop floor where they've expanded sales space into what clearly were store rooms and as a result you end up walking into different rooms forming parts of the shop. But Morrisons are happy to have their name plastered all over it. It can't be the only example.
Presumably that was a pre-2022 McColls 'trading as Morrisons Daily' one. There's a really ropey petrol station around the corner from here run by a separate franchisee.cwathen wrote: ↑Mon 27 Feb, 2023 13.48I'm not quite sure what Morrisons really got out of reviving the Safeway brand. When first announced I assumed it was to essentially be a dark kitchen - they would use Safeway to obfuscate the source of the products they supplied at wholesale. Yet even the earliest POS specifically mentioned that Morrisons were behind it. If it wasn't felt to be a strong enough brand to stand by itself then what was the point?
Re. not wanting their brand on dumps - they've already done it. McColls in Minehead has been trading as Morrisons Daily for a good few years now. Quite a smart looking piece of branding on the outside but once you manage to push open the heavy stained wooden door of dubious DDA compliance you're met with a tired old shopfit that looks like it probably pre-dates McColls and a shop floor where they've expanded sales space into what clearly were store rooms and as a result you end up walking into different rooms forming parts of the shop. But Morrisons are happy to have their name plastered all over it. It can't be the only example.
Still bad that Morrisons allowed it but I guess they were desperate to get the fascia rolled out.
In terms of Safeway, I guess perhaps the parameters were changed by Co-op purchasing Nisa and replacing the entire Heritage range with their main brand stuff. (New) Safeway's products were more in line with value tier stuff than the main Morrisons range.
Yes, pre-2022. It was still McColl's when the Safeway products came out ('Safeway, supermarket quality brought to you from Morrisons, only at McColl's' with all 3 logos awkwardly crammed onto the same poster). Not that long after (I think probably within a year) it had started trading as Morrisons Daily.WillPS wrote:Presumably that was a pre-2022 McColls 'trading as Morrisons Daily' one. There's a really ropey petrol station around the corner from here run by a separate franchisee.
Only just noticed that it even appears on the Morrisons website with a disclaimer that it's a franchise store run by a 3rd party. A bit weird for Morrisons to allow this when there is a proper Morrisons in Minehead. Unlike most of their estate around these parts it's actually a purpose built new store and not an old Safeway. Really nice store. Less than a 5 minute drive (and only a 10-15 minute walk) from the Morrisons-branded tatty old McColl's shop.
Possibly it became a fascia the franchisee could choose to have and that's what they went for? Hopefully as Morrisons work through what will happen to the smaller shops they do actually sort out a spec for Morrisons Daily and franchised shops either shape up or can't use the brand.
No. Just a franchisee changing fascias, same as when a Costcutter changes to a Londis or whatever.
tbf it would fit totally in place. Some of their main estate is an absolute dump lately, especially after some bright spark thought it was a good idea to save the environment *cough* money by turning half the lights off.
Absolutely bonkers idea, very unpleasant shopping experience walking around in the dark especially when for some reason they think they can compete with Waitrose on their prices after spending 10 minutes looking for a trolley as having trolleys is a foreign idea lately.
Wouldn't be surprised if they're in serious trouble soon, the stores are dead half the time now yet you can go to the ASDA or Tesco 5 minutes down the road and they're packed. Going down hill big time and fast and it's not unique to one store either. Even popped into the big one at Harrogate the other day and that was exactly the same as was passing by and if it's dead in their Yorkshire heartlands then they're in big trouble imo.
Related in The Observer:Zimba wrote: ↑Wed 01 Mar, 2023 18.46 Wouldn't be surprised if they're in serious trouble soon, the stores are dead half the time now yet you can go to the ASDA or Tesco 5 minutes down the road and they're packed. Going down hill big time and fast and it's not unique to one store either. Even popped into the big one at Harrogate the other day and that was exactly the same as was passing by and if it's dead in their Yorkshire heartlands then they're in big trouble imo.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... upermarket
I note that even Waitrose are now trying the whole 'price investment' angle.